7 Reasons Why You Should Visit Ghana 2023 | Travel | Black Woman Expat

What's up beautiful people? Welcome or welcome back to another video. Today's video is all about the seven reasons you should visit Ghana and if that sounds interesting to you stay tuned. So this video is all about the trip that I took during the holiday season to Accra, Ghana and I'm gonna tell you this trip was amazing. I was able to try the foods, interact with the people. I was also able to do so many different cultural things and shopping is amazing in Accra. You literally can drive down the street and have lunch or a snack or you can get things you need for your house or your car. They walk in the streets. They usually have something over their head to hold the items that they're selling. Sometimes it's a big like heated box to keep the food warm in the box. Sometimes it's a big bowl of fruit or they have other items for the house or for the car for your cell phone. So you know if you are in Accra and you're in a car you literally can do your shopping while driving. So I think that's amazing. I'm not sure why we haven't caught on to that quite here yet in Abu Dhabi in the states but it's very innovative and convenient. So shopping is amazing. Also you know hospitality is top-notch. I really felt welcomed wherever I went whether I was shopping in a market, whether I was at my hotel or whether I was at the home of our host Kofi. His father prepared dinner for us on the last last day that we were that most of the group was there. I stayed a little longer than the rest of the group and the words that Kofi's grandmother shared with us were so impactful, so moving. I actually was I actually cried and what she said was you know don't think that we just you know dropped you off and that we didn't want you. She said we did want you and you are welcome and I'm paraphrasing because the way that she said it and the heartfelt emotion behind her words had not just me in tears but some of the other members of the group were moved to tears too by her words and it was just really a powerful and impactful experience to hear her speak and you know just to be welcomed in someone's home that didn't really know us but accepted us and wanted us and welcomed us even though they didn't know us and actually that's how I felt wherever I went in Accra and you're gonna see pictures and video later however at the slave dungeon on the cape coast they had the door of no return right but they now have on the other side of the door they have the door of return and that just really just lets us know especially being an African-American woman that I have a home that I can go to you know it's my home and I'm welcome there and I really really I like that they did that because when I went to Senegal they had the window of no return and they haven't changed the name of that and you know I'm hoping maybe perhaps because Ghana has had the year of return and Ghana had this year is considered beyond the year of beyond the return I'm hoping that other you know African countries that have these doors of no return or windows of no return you know change it change it around because our words are so powerful and our words are so impactful and I really really like that they have the door of return so you're gonna see video footage and pictures of my trip and I'm not gonna lay it out like the seven reasons specifically why you should go to Ghana like I'm not gonna have like a actual picture that says you know food or whatever however I'm gonna tell you the seven reasons right now and then I want you just to enjoy the pictures and the video footage so you can get a feel for for you know how it is in Accra Ghana of course never you can never really capture a place in a picture or in a book or in a video like being there but I'm gonna do my best okay so here are the top seven reasons you should visit Ghana so Christmas is a whole thing in Ghana celebrating Christmas and New Year's Eve in the new year is I don't know it's it's almost overwhelming there's so many festivals there are so many parties there are so many events happening from the beginning of December all the way through New Year's Day so at my hotel they had a live band and everything for New Year's Eve they had barbecues they had a special New Year's Day lunch and you know they gave me a bag of chocolates you know and it just I don't know I it's really hard to describe how I felt but it just felt so I felt so included you know in the celebration so celebrating the holiday in Accra is amazing and that's probably even an understatement there so that was number one celebrating Christmas and New Year's is a whole thing a whole vibe in Accra Ghana and then number two is the food oh my gosh you're gonna see images of the food in a minute but the food is amazing and so tasty there's a whole war on jollof rice who has the best jollof rice between Nigeria Senegal and Ghana and supposedly it started in Senegal so jollof rice is a whole thing there so I had jollof rice I had banku which you're you're supposed to eat with your hands and dip it in the stew it reminds you of fufu but it's a little bit the texture is different it's made with a few different ingredients and I also had kiliwidi which is fried plantain and the spice that they put on it which I learned at the botanical gardens really helps heal the internal organs and it comes from a tree that they grow there and it's it's really good it's really good everything I had was delicious delicious and fresh and the fruit so I've heard it said that you've never had fruit until you've had fruit in Ghana and you're gonna see pictures of their bananas their bananas could fit in my in my hand in the palm of my hand like their bananas are small and probably because they're not genetically modified so that's a whole thing fruit is delicious I had different types of fruit one I can't remember the name of it but it's a yellow fruit and you you have it has seeds in it and it's like sweet and sour I forgot the name of it but I had that it was so good bought it you know driving down the street because that's a whole thing shopping in Ghana is a whole thing you can get everything you need while you drive all right and then uh number three is um and I'm looking at my notes um history and knowledge so I got a chance to go to the W.E.B. Du Bois um museum which you're gonna see in a minute and you know that was very enlightening you know a lot of things that I thought I knew about um W.E.B. Du Bois uh I learned I learned a lot I thought I knew a lot but I learned a lot also you know just the culture um regarding the history the slave trade the um the different knowledge and you know going there and seeing it and hearing you know them tell the history was really really enlightening as well of course we have books and we have you know movies and we have a lot of information out there however to get it and see it and touch it all at the same time really like made a difference for me um and then number four is culture the music the art the textiles the the food the people the culture is amazing in Accra, Ghana so that is definitely number four and you're gonna see some images soon video and um pictures hospitality is top notch um I stayed at the Holiday Inn Accra airport and I mean they really really took very good care of me I mean even took me in the in the van the shuttle van to the Marriott so I could visit with one of my sorority sisters that was there and they weren't even supposed to do that but they did that and not to mention I had such a long wait for my um departure flight I was going to bring my bags down and um you know let them hold the bags while I went to Cape Coast and did other things um until it was time for me to leave and the guy said well you don't have to do that you don't even have to check out now he said what I'll what I'll do because she said you're gonna want to you know come back and shower and freshen up he said don't worry about it he said I'm gonna set your checkout for three and I'll extend it till 4 p.m where do they do that I have no idea where they do that for free so you know hospitality is a whole thing and I wish I could have had room to bring back the the brochure or I don't know what you would call it it's like a journal like it's almost like a souvenir journal they gave it to us as we went into Afrocella and in there they talked about hospitality and they talked about you know all the culture and all of these things like Accra is definitely a place that you want to put on your list to visit so hospitality is top-notch there shopping okay shopping was shopping again that was a whole thing right so again driving down the street you can get so many different things that you need the markets are I was just like here and there and everywhere like oh my gosh this is cute oh my gosh this is cute oh I need that oh I want that you know they you can buy the fabric of course but they had so many items that were already made that were beautiful and a lot of the items were one size fits all which is great because you know I'm of a certain age now and the weight want to fluctuate every now and then so so you know shopping was great and I love the fact that you can negotiate and they want you to and it's not it's like a whole art negotiating and bar you know you know bargaining with the price it's a whole it's a whole art and they and they like it they enjoy it so I did that and I got some really great pieces and some really great deals I bought let me see if I turn this around there you go okay so that Sigma Gamma Rho mask yes you know I almost lost my entire mind when I saw it however it's a piece that I got in Accra and they had the the mask for everybody and you know Greek life is growing there the divine nine are there and they know they're starting to recognize it so as I wore like my t-shirts and things like that they they would say oh I like your shirt I know I know those I know those letters I you know so it's you know they're starting to understand it and it's becoming more popular there so shopping was fun shopping in the markets was a little overwhelming however it was a lot of fun and overwhelming because there are so many choices so many different sections you know everybody has their own shop they call it shop come see my shop so everybody has their own shop so it was you know a little bit overwhelming but still fun and number seven is I saved the best for last is the people the people of Accra are very warm very welcoming like I said Kofi's father invited us you know to his home to eat and share and you know was just so warm and loving and friendly and Kofi actually you know helped me find a place to celebrate great you know to bring in the new year and you know that was that was really nice so his cousin was having a rooftop party and he was like you know you can go and I was like well how much is it gonna be you know he said it's no cost he said you can go she's expecting you so it was just like I felt like a part of of a family you know I don't really know how else to describe it I felt like I actually went home to be with family so those are the seven reasons you should visit Ghana so now you're going to see the footage and the pictures that I took while I was there I hope you enjoy hello everyone I am here in Ghana in Accra Ghana I had a wonderful flight I flew with United and it was I didn't even feel the plane take off I don't know if I've ever flown in a 787 I don't know however I am here in Accra Ghana I'm excited to go to Afrocella I'm going to show you a little bit of my room I decided to stay at the Holiday Inn which is often where I stay so let me see now I can't turn it around but anyway this is a full view of the room and this is the bathroom y'all can see that well a little coffee station refrigerator a little place for the luggage nice nice size place for me to put my clothes when I decide to unpack I have a driver waiting for me right now because I'm gonna go sightseeing some of the people who I actually am meeting here are already on a tour so I'm gonna catch up with them later in the meantime I'm gonna go sightseeing with Lord Elvis that's his name that's his real name too I'll check in later so I am standing in front of the Jamestown Lighthouse I normally like to go to the top of lighthouses I don't know if this one is open but um the Jamestown Lighthouse and then again I'm in Accra oh I didn't even look yet okay Accra, Ghana is a whole vibe y'all okay y'all it's a whole vibe out here at Labadi Beach in Accra it's like a big party and beach fun people riding on the horses they got a whole fire show over here let's go see people surfing the music is like pumping it's amazing oh snap what happened to the fire person? oh oh my god so hey Let me see I just had some banh cuon and fish and it was delicious but this vibe right here, it's awesome. I just want to show you all, there are bananas, all of the bananas are around this size, it's sitting in my hand, you see that? It's no longer in my hand, so I'm wondering what are we doing to our food, where our food, the banana is as big as my forearm, what the heck? So if you know me, and all those who know me, they know that I love trying new foods, so I was excited to try banh cuon, the fufu there, because I've had fufu, however I had it in Canada, in Quebec, I had made some African friends there and they made fufu. So I had fufu and I had grouper and everything that I tasted was absolutely delicious. So you should definitely go to Accra and try all the different foods. So I had already purchased way too many items at the market, so I just wanted to go to the mall just to see what it was like. I had also visited a mall that was near my hotel and noticed that they had some of the same stores that we have here in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. It's beautiful. Look at all this beautiful art going on. It's so beautiful. So initially, my assistant principal from last year had told us about Afrocella, and so that's the main reason why we decided to go to Accra over the holiday season. And Afrocella was a whole vibe, y'all. Finally here, y'all, at Afrocella, here in Accra, Ghana. This is a little bit of what you see when you enter. Very smart of them to put the vendors in the entrance space. Super smart. I've already ordered my fish and chips. I'm going to find me some curry veggies, hopefully. I think more people will be coming later because some people in my group partied until 5.30 last night and they said they will be here at 3. So, yeah, I'll check back in soon. Let's go. Afrocella is Afrofuture. I'm having a ball, y'all. Absolutely love it. We outside. Y'all know how that goes. Big shout out to everyone that came out so far. We have an amazing night of talent for you. We have an amazing night of fun. We want to thank everyone for coming out tonight. We celebrated. Afrocella is Afrofuture. What's up, New York? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Starbucks! Bucky's feeding money. Happy New Year,建 це Bucky B. Happy New Year, Bucky B. We finally made it to the Ruby Gardens here, and when we came in, we saw this really cool tree line. The entrance is so beautiful. I've had... I finally tasted the pub wine, and it was so good. So I will check back in later. So they call this tree the Tree of Life because it actually tells a story of life, different phases of life, different paths that people take in life, the good path, the bad path, the middle path. So the artist carved this out, and it really tells a story. Happy New Year, everyone. I finally made it to Cape Coast, and this is a little bit of what I see. The tour has not started yet. I see all these beautiful boats out here, so I'm assuming that these are fishermen. The beach is my favorite place, however, I know this particular area and this beach is where a lot of my ancestors were taken into captivity, so I'm sure that this tour is going to be emotional. So after doing the tour, the Slave Dungeon tour at Cape Coast, I just didn't have the capacity to do another tour, however, I wanted to see Elmina before I left Accra, so these are the pictures. So I decided to come to Elmina, the St. George Castle, but I'm too tired. I don't feel like doing the tour. I'm sorry. I'm recording a video. One second. Okay. Nice to meet you. Yes. L-Y. Yeah. So I just decided to do a video. This is the back of the castle, but I'll try to get the front of it, and it's just, you know, more like the same of what I just saw at Cape Coast, at that castle, you know, more of the slave jail, so I don't think I need to do a whole other tour for this, but here in Elmina, and I'm about to go back to Accra. Oh, nice. Thank you so much for watching. I hope that you have a better glimpse of what it would be like to actually travel to Accra, Ghana, especially during the holidays. There are so many festivals happening, so much to do, and it's beautifully decorated. There were lights lining the trees, different Christmas scenes all over. Even at the airport, there were scenes where, you know, you could just take selfies, and it was all decorated for the holidays, so, you know, definitely consider putting Accra on your list. I hope that you enjoyed watching this video. Please give it a like, a thumbs up, and also, please consider subscribing to the channel. Our community is growing. My focus is changing for this channel. I'm going to be bringing you more content in regards to travel and living abroad, and the reason why I'm doing that is because it seems like that's what you all want, more content regarding that, so my focus for the channel is changing to more of a lifestyle regarding travel and living abroad, so thank you so much for watching, and I will see you in the next one.